Christmas update...I don't have the energy for a daybook entry

I reread through my Christmas countdown and thought it might sound snarky. Really, I was laughing as I typed it. You can only laugh at the end of a day like that! And our Christmas was very good also,,,in other ways. :) I have pictures and nice memories to share. Not today though. Today, the stomach virus that started with Kain is working it's way through the house. Maria and I started with it yesterday, and Tess during the night last night...is there anything more pitiful than a vomiting baby? Kain had been better and I thought he might go back to his day treatment today, but then he threw up first thing this morning. Tess, Maria, and I have spent all day upstairs on my bed, napping and watching dvd's, while the boys play Wii downstairs. Not quite the Christmas break I'd pictured, but we are surviving and I'm glad they are letting me rest. I'm also thankful that everyone has been able to keep water down well. My house looks like a bomb went off. It's pretty bad, but what can you do? I'm just glad no one has burned it down, you know? I'm feeling somewhat better right now, just limp and noodley...and I just had some soup and crackers, my first solid food since yesterday's lunch. Jack and John still remain unscathed. I expect Jack to fall anytime. John may not...he rarely gets sick. Nurses have amazing immune systems. So, I'm hoping this bug doesn't last long and that we'll be back to normal soon. I'm looking to get the very, very messy school room cleaned up and organized before we start back to lessons.

Dad vs. Baby

Go check this little clip out on Danielle Bean's site. This just cracked me up this morning, because this is *so* John and Tessie....

a Christmas countdown

6- The number of inches of snow called for overnight by the National Weather Service that caused our entire family to cancel their plans to get together at my parents' place on Christmas Day.

5- The number of trips to the kitchen Kain made on Christmas Eve to fill his plate with antipasto, dill pickles, fudge, cookies, and cake.

4- The number of nativity pieces knocked off the nativity set when Maria accidentally hurled her Wii remote across the room while "bowling". The Wii was a new gift this year.

3- The number of times Kain vomited dill pickle and fudge after going to bed Christmas Eve.

2- The number of injuries sustained on Christmas Day- John burned himself with his new soldering iron. Jack was given a bloody nose when backhanded by John with a Wii remote when he was "canoing". I think it hurt John more than it hurt Jack.

1- The number of inches of snow we actually got.

0- The number of times Kain managed to hit the toilet, bucket, or a receptacle of any kind while vomiting.

Daybook- last week of Advent!

For today, December 21st...

Outside my window...dark and cold. John had to scrape ice off the car this morning before he left. Unlike the rest of the country, we have had much of that yet. We are supposed to get hit with some ugliness Christmas Eve though.

I am thinking...about how I am never *quite done* with Christmas shopping. I've ordered everything online that needed to be ordered. I made one last trip to Wally World yesterday (Oh my WORD, that place is so INSANE right now). And I thought I was done. When I got home, I realized that I'd forgotten one of Maria's gifts (sigh). I'm going to grab it today. Then I'm REALLY done.

I am thankful for...relative good health for the kids. Kain had an appointment with the pulmonologist last week and she said he had an ear infection...we had no idea! But no flu or anything still.

From the learning rooms...we are on Christmas break! Woohoo! Learning, of course, continues, all the time. My kids are very involved in Christmas preparations. And Maria will still press on with some math over most of the break. We need to get done what I can...we're having a baby in the spring!

From the kitchen...fudge. We are making homemade fudge for Christmas boxes and to put out on cookie plates on Christmas Eve/Day. Otherwise, I'm doing very little baking this year. Even the cookies are from refrigerator dough. Scandalous, yes? My lower back and hips are already killing me from all the shopping. I'm begging out of baking this year.

I am wearing...my blue fuzzy bathrobe! Yay, it's clean, and still smells vaguely of baby bath.

I am creating...some Montessori-ish activities for Tess over Christmas break. She's *ready* already. I'm finding her doing things like trying to lace up Kain's shoes and rolling balls through the tunnel on the cat perch. She's ready.

I am reading...Matilda, by Roald Dahl. I bought a big stack of books second hand from another homeschooler, and it had a whole mess of Roald Dahl in it. :)

I am hoping...that Jack heals up. He had a nasty scratch from one of the cats and it's infected. It was *beyond gross* on Saturday, ick. I've been scrubbing it, putting hydrogen peroxide and antibiotic ointment on it, and it's looking a lot better, but not quite so much better that I'm done worrying about it. Also, I *love* cleaning up gross wounds. It's oddly satisfying to me to clean up some messy looking thing and watch it heal up. Isn't that weird? Maybe when I'm done raising kids I'll be a wound care nurse.

I am hearing...Martha Speaks on PBS...Tess and Jack woke up while I was typing and I put this on for them. And I just heard Kain get up and head for the bathroom, which is a good thing, it's time for him to get up.

Around the house...we are getting our Christmas tree tomorrow. I have no idea where we are going to put it.

The baby this week...I'm 25 weeks this week. Too early for all these back-aches. I think it's going to be a long last trimester! I started having Braxton-Hicks contractions yesterday. I read that Michelle Duggar went into premature labor and had her baby already, and she was only a couple of weeks further along than me. I can't imagine.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Today- therapy for Kain, and he will be going to day treatment today and tomorrow. Otherwise...Christmas! Christmas Eve we will go to evening mass and the Christmas pageant. Maria will be singing in the choir, Jack will be in the pageant for the first time as a shepherd, and Kain will be in his final pageant performance, a break-out role as Caesar Augustus. :) Christmas Day we will keep that age-old tradition of having the kids open up all their gifts and then forcing them, amongst much wailing and gnashing of teeth, to leave them all to go visit family.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...
Memories of warmer weather...these are from a nature walk in August. Isn't Tess' rear-end a scream? She had a disposable diaper on and it blew up like a balloon.








H/T to Peggy at Simple Woman's Daybook. Join us!

Daybook in December

For today, December 14th...

Outside my window...It is still very dark and very early in the morning. But today is supposed to be sunny and 60 degrees! Woohoo!

I am thinking...about those coffee mate flavored creamers available this time of year,,,gingerbread and eggnog and caramel apple flavored. I'm avoiding sugar in the interest of having a less-huge baby, but I've been missing them every morning!

I am thankful for...a generous Christmas gift from my in-laws that will allow us to finally finish our privacy fence. It was only 2/3 done when we bought the house and we've paid "handymen" twice to work on it and twice got ripped off. We've never been able to afford an actual fence company until now. This means that we can get a dog in the spring!

From the learning rooms...Kain is not with us for school right now. He will be going to therapeutic day treatment for a few months. He's doing ok, just more of the same, and lots of attitude problems regarding schoolwork that I just can't deal with anymore. So, his schoolwork is out of my hands. I am working on a unit on "Safety Friends" with Jack...firefighters and police officers and such. Lots of fun! Maria is learning about classification of living things, factoring, and the Greek-Persian wars.

From the kitchen...tonight we will have a cornbread-chili casserole for dinner. I've been using e-mealz lately. I'm not sure how I feel about their menus. They are pretty good and definitely handy, but my grocery bill has gone up a bit using them and I do miss planning my seasonal menus. I just don't have the gumption right now. Maybe after Christmas.

I am wearing...I'm not dressed yet! I'm wearing the grey sweatpants and white tshirt I slept in. Sexy, no? I'm also freezing. My bathrobe is in the laundry. It mysteriously got baby bath spilled all over it.

I am creating...some ornaments to put on our Jesse Tree for using *after* Christmas. We bought a little tabletop tree this year to use for our Jesse Tree. It won't count for our *real* Christmas tree of course. I wish it would! It takes up a lot less room! But I would have a mutiny on my hands if I tried that.

I am going...to have a busy Monday. I have to take Kain to TDT. Then I have to pick him up at 10 and take him to the pulmonologist, and then take him back to TDT. Then I have to pick him up at 2:30 and take him to therapy. Then Maria has dance class tonight at 7. Thankfully John is off today and can help with some of the running around.

I am reading...old back issues of Mothering. Someone gave me a stack a while back that I'm slowly working through. They date all the way back to when I was pregnant with Maria, and it's funny to see how dated the photos look!

I am hoping...that everyone stays well. Tessie has been congested with yucky stuff for a couple of days. Kain's asthma is acting up. Maria said last night that she felt queasy. I prayed that everyone would stay well through our trip to Dallas two weeks ago, and everyone did. Now I'm waiting for the other shoe to fall. We've had almost no illness so far this year. It's coming. I can feel it.

I am hearing...nothing at all. Everyone is still asleep! Oh...wait,,,I hear a couple of birds starting to cheep at the bird feeder outside the living room window. Poor cold birdies!

Around the house...we have done very little for Advent this year. Honestly, my planning for such things has been atrocious since I became pregnant. I'm hoping to pick up the ball again for the Christmas season. By Christmas season, I mean the real one that starts after Advent, not the one that walmart says starts on Black Friday. :)

One of my favorite things...my fuzzy warm bathrobe. And gingerbread flavored coffee creamer. I'm feeling whiny this morning, huh? Here's something good---feeling the baby kick. I finally feel him kick on regular basis. That seemed late in coming this time and I was getting worried about it, so it's sweet to feel him moving around.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Oh, it's a busy one. Tomorrow, John and I are going Christmas shopping together. I don't really like to shop, but this will be fun I think. Thursday- library day and occupational therapy for Kain. Friday- midwife appointment.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...from our recent trip to Dallas. Our trip was for the Southern Region Oireachtas, an Irish dance competition that qualifies dancers to compete at the national level. She didn't place, which truly wasn't expected at all...she is still a beginner and it was her first oireachtas. It was a fun experience though. It was a girls' road trip...Maria and I, my mom, and Tessie, living it up in the big city. Here's some pics of Tessie in Dallas.


Tessie's feet in little Irish dance socks...aren't they cute!

Eating New York style pizza at this *amazing* place near the hotel. It was so good we went twice!

Both of the girls were fascinated by the pigeons that let you get so close. Our birds at home aren't that friendly!

What happens when you turn on the news to check the weather and then leave the room

Kain, walking into the kitchen where I am refilling my coffee-
"There was a teenage drug-induced sex party. Whatever that means."